Blown-In Building Insulation

BLOWN-IN INSULATION - CONTENTS: How much does blown-in building insulation settle?
Does blown-in insulation need a vapor barrier?Identifying & inspecting cellulose building insulation. Properties and R-values of different building insulation products. Description of Non-asbestos materials sometimes mistaken for asbestos in buildings

This document assists building buyers, owners or inspectors who need to diagnose, identify, or improve building insulation for new construction or retrofit and energy savings projects.

The question-and-answer article below paraphrases, quotes-from, updates, and comments an original article from Solar Age Magazine and written by Steven Bliss.

Blown In Building Insulation Characteristics, Advice, Moisture or Condensation Concerns

Question:

Does blown-in insulation settle and need to be added as time goes by?

Our house doesn't seem as warm as it did at first, though it could be because we are getting old.

There is no vapor barrier - the builder said that I didn't need a vapor barrier in this climate.

- Carl Whitis, Belen NM

Answer:

Settlement in Blown in Building Wall Insulation

If the building insulation was blown in at the proper density, it shouldn't settle. This is true for both blown-in fiberglass and blown-in cellulose insulation. (Typically we're talking about insulation blown into building wall cavities)

If blown-in insulation has settled however, the gap at the top of the wall may sharply reduce the R-value of the wall.

Assume R-11 blown-in insulation in a wall cavity settles enough to create a void equal to 10 percent of the wall area.

This would drop the effective R-value of the wall from R-13 to R-9.75 - a 25-percent reduction in insulating value and a 25 percent increase in heat loss through the wall.

You can determine whether or not blown-in wall insulation has settled by a thermograph scan of the building.

Other Voids in Blown-in Building Wall or Ceiling Insulation

Watch out: in some blown-in building insulation retrofit projects we have occasionally found significant insulation voids where the installer was careless, or where the installer did not anticipate blockages in the wall cavity formed by diagonal bracing [Image file] or fire blocking.

An infra-red or thermal scan of a heated building during cold weather will make such insulation voids obvious - DF.

[We did indeed observe significant shrinkage, not settlement, in UFFI blown-in insulation in some homes insulated with that product in the 1970's, particularly if the product was not properly mixed in the first place.

Why Does our Blown-in Insulated House Now Feel Colder?

Your house may feel cold because the lack of a vapor barrier has let moist air from the house interior (or leaks in the house interior walls) has let moisture enter the walls.

As moisture enters building walls, it cools, causing condensation in the wall cavity. The effect is similar to an actual leak into the building wall but perhaps less severe, and possibly not a problem.

Effects of Moisture in Building Wall Cavities - Do We Need a Vapor Barrier?

If we have a limited amount of moisture in the wall cavity:

moisture will be absorbed into the wall framing and insulation

moisture will then diffuse or convect to the outside air or

moisture will return to the house itself as the indoor relative humidity level drops

Even limited moisture leaking into some building walls can accumulate, leading to mold or other building problems depending on the wall structure and materials. For example leaks into EIFS synthetic stucco walls have led to serious rot and mold problems on some buildings.

Effects of Water Leaks into Wall Cavities

If insulation actually gets wet (from accumulated condensation or from a leak into the wall cavity or ceiling cavity) the insulation becomes less effective, and you may feel the result as a "colder house" or in some unfortunate cases, as a "moldy house" with indoor air quality problems depending on the amount of moldy air moving in and out of building cavities.

If moisture returns to the building interior or exterior (cases 2 and 3 above) then no harm may have been done.

Watch out: building insulation that has been wet from leaks or accumulated moisture may invite mold growth, insect attack, and rot, all of which can eventually lead to the need for costly repairs.

Effects of Missing Wall Vapor Barrier

Studies of several hundred houses without vapor barriers in Spokane WA and Portland OR, performed in the 1980's by George Tsongas of Portland State University found no structural damage to the buildings and only occasional higher than average moisture levels in the building framing or insulation.

Albuquerque NM (your location) is dryer than Spokane and has fewer degree days, so you should not have in-wall humidity problems unless they originated in building leaks.

Moisture or Water in Sprayed Cellulose Insulation

"Spray-applied cellulose insulation, which is most often used in new construction, is damp-sprayed, not wet - an important distinction. In the old days, [cellulose insulation] was a wet-applied product, and you could squeeze liquid moisture out of it.

For quite some time now, only a very small amount of moisture is added to damp-sprayed cellulose, definitely not enough to be able to squeeze water out of it. Under normal conditions, the cellulose insulation is ready to be covered by drywall in 24 hours, far less than the time that is routinely scheduled between the insulation and drywall jobs [in new construction]."

Fallow adds,

"In addition, cellulose manages moisture." According to Fallow [we are not sure we agree], "Cellulose insulation requires no vapor barrier in the overwhelming majority of installations. It does an excellent job of limiting air movement, and because it is hygroscopic [definition: hygroscopic means a substance tends to absorb moisture from air], it manages moisture as well.

Some insulations require vapor barriers because they do such a poor job of preventing air movement, air that can carry moisture with it.

The problem is that ... moisture and air don't always move in the same direction thorough a building, depending on the time of year. So what about those products that need a vapor barrier? Effectively half the year it's on the wrong side of the wall. Cellulose [that is blown in without a vapor barrier] doesn't have that problem."

Watch out: In our opinion the views above need some clarification:

It is accurate that building wall cavity insulation can safely "absorb" moisture driven into the wall cavity, store it, and later release it back to the living area as seasons and air and moisture movement direction change. We discuss the safe movement of moisture in and out of building cavities at MOISTURE in BUILDING WALLS, EFFECTS.

It can also the case that if moisture driven into a wall (usually most severely at wall penetrations such as openings at receptacles or light fixtures) is excessive in amount (such as in a poorly vented bathroom or in a home with water entry troubles) the amount can be enough to saturate the insulation (mold and loss of R-value). The ability of different building insulation materials to absorb moisture vapor and later return it safely to the building interior varies by insulation product.

Also, depending on the wall or ceiling's total R-value, moisture can pass through the insulation to the exterior sheathing where it condenses back to liquid form. That's a problem that invites mold growth, structural rot, and insect attack.

Fallow's explanation above may confuse some readers who mix up the need for a vapor barrier (keeping moisture out of a wall) and the need for an air barrier (keeping wind effects out of a wall from outside and/or minimizing air movement in and out of a wall from inside the building). Exterior house wrap is specifically intended to be an air barrier, not a moisture barrier, so that if moisture does pass through a wall's insulation it can continue to pass to the outdoors.

Or more generally, we place a vapor barrier on the "warm side" of a wall (or ceiling or floor) in order to prevent moisture from moving into and accumulating in the building cavity. In northern climates invariably that means the vapor barrier goes inside the building. In some southern climates where air conditioning is used, the "warm" side of the wall is actually the building exterior and a vapor barrier may be placed there rather than indoors.

A Few Other Warnings about Blown-In Building Insulation

Watch out: don't blow ceiling insulation into or around electrical fixtures or wiring that can create an overheating or fire hazard. Examples of problems to avoid when blowing insulation into a building include [-DF]

Blocking or covering up attic or under-roof ventilation can lead to a building moisture problem where there was none before.

Our photo (left) shows a building ridge-vent that was jammed full of blown-in cellulose insulation during an insulation retrofit job in upstate New York.

The result was a blocked under-roof or attic ventilation exit pathway, moisture accumulation, and a mold problem bad enough that the insulation and ceiling had to be removed and the attic area cleaned.

Blocking or covering-up knob-and-tube electrical wiring. This type of electrical wiring was intended to be hung in open air.

If it is covered by insulation, depending on circuit usage it may overheat, damaging its insulation, becoming unsafe, perhaps a fire hazard.

Blocking or covering up pot lights (recessed ceiling lights) that are not rated to be covered by insulation can lead to overheating and a fire.

The link to the original Q&A article in PDF form immediately below is preceded by an expanded/updated online version of this article.

Q&A on Blown-in Insulation - PDF version, use your browser's back button to return to this page

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Technical Reviewers & References

Steve Bliss's Building Advisor at buildingadvisor.com helps homeowners & contractors plan & complete successful building & remodeling projects: buying land, site work, building design, cost estimating, materials & components, & project management through complete construction. Email: info@buildingadvisor.com
Steven Bliss served as editorial director and co-publisher of The Journal of Light Construction for 16 years and previously as building technology editor for Progressive Builder and Solar Age magazines. He worked in the building trades as a carpenter and design/build contractor for more than ten years and holds a masters degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Excerpts from his recent book, Best Practices Guide to Residential Construction, Wiley (November 18, 2005) ISBN-10: 0471648361, ISBN-13: 978-0471648369, appear throughout this website, with permission and courtesy of Wiley & Sons. Best Practices Guide is available from the publisher, J. Wiley & Sons, and also at Amazon.com

The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 25th Ed., 2012, is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume. Special Offer: For a 10% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference Book purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.

Or choose the The Home Reference eBook for PCs, Macs, Kindle, iPad, iPhone, or Android Smart Phones. Special Offer: For a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference eBook purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAEHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.

Asbestos: How to find and recognize asbestos in Buildings - visual inspection methods, list of common asbestos-containing materials

Asbestos products and their history and use in various building materials such as asphalt and vinyl flooring includes discussion which draws on Asbestos, Its Industrial Applications, D.V. Rosato, engineering consultant, Newton, MA, Reinhold Publishing, 1959 Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 59-12535 (out of print).

Asbestos Identification and Testing References

Asbestos Identification, Walter C.McCrone, McCrone Research Institute, Chicago, IL.1987 ISBN 0-904962-11-3. Dr. McCrone literally "wrote the book" on asbestos identification procedures which formed
the basis for current work by asbestos identification laboratories.

ASHRAE resources on building insulation, dew point and wall condensation - see the ASHRAE Fundamentals Handbook, available in many libraries. The following three ASHRAE Handbooks are also available at the InspectAPedia bookstore in the third page of our Insulate-Ventilate section:

Construction Waterproofing Handbook, Michael T. Kubal. Quoting:
... an all-inclusive, project-simplifying guide for waterproofing and construction professionals. This comprehensive answer-packed resource is loaded with the up-to-date, clearly-defined information you need on every project, including work on the building envelope, below-grade, above-grade, and remedial waterproofing.

Brick Nogging, Historical Investigation and Contemporary Repair, Construction Specifier, April 2006. Historical use of brick in timber-framed buildings, drawing on the investigations of the Kent Tavern in Calais, VT.
"Brick nogging is a European method of construction which was brought to the new world in the early-nineteenth century. It was a common construction method that employed masonry as infill between the vertical uprights of wood framing." -- quoting the web article review.

Insulate & Weatherize (Taunton's Build Like a Pro), Bruce Harley. Review quoted:
An engineer who trains builders in energy-efficient construction, Harley offers a wealth of information that will allow readers to improve their home's efficiency, saving both money and natural resources. After an introductory section that explains the underlying principles of heat transfer, insulation, and air quality, Harley demonstrates basics such as weather-stripping and moves forward through advanced projects including insulation and major upgrades. Short "Pro Tips" as well as sections labeled "Trade Secrets," "What Can Go Wrong," and "In Detail" provide a great deal of helpful information. Increasing energy efficiency is one of the easiest ways for homeowners to save money

Insulation Types, table of common building insulation properties from U.S. DOE. Readers should see INSULATION R-VALUES & PROPERTIES our own table of insulation properties that includes links to articles describing each insulation material in more detail.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST (nee National Bureau of Standards NBS) is a US government agency - see www.nist.gov

Piquet Wall Construction: See this photo of
piquet wall construction - involving timber-framed wall construction with long top girts, diagonal timber bracing, and small diameter logs
placed vertically along with concrete chinking to fill in the wall plane.

Plank House Construction: weblog from plankhouse.wordpress.com/2009/01/25/plank-house-construction/ and where plank houses were built by native Americans, seeLarge 1:6 Scale Plank House Construction / P8094228,
Photographer: Mike Meuser
06/12/2007 documented at yurokplankhouse.com where scale model Museum quality Yurok Plank Houses are being sold to raise money for the Blue Creek - Ah Pah Traditional Yurok Village project.

Principles of Heating, Ventilating, And Air Conditioning: A textbook with Design Data Based on 2005 ASHRAE Handbook - Fundamentals, Harry J., Jr. Sauer, Ronald H. Howell, William J. Coad. Quoting
... textbook for college level HVAC courses or independent study and review, especially when combined with the 1997 ASHRAE Fundamentals Handbook. Contains the most current ASHRAE procedures and definitive, yet easy to understand, treatment of building HVAC systems -- from basic principles through design and operation. Dual units of measurement.

Re-Bath, tub lining products is a bath tub relining manufacturer and distributor located in Tempe, Arizona - see rebath.com

Rubblestone Wall Filler: See this Lartigue House using exterior-exposed rubblestone filler between vertical timbers of a post and beam-framed Canadian building.